What the letters mean
The PharmD replaced the older bachelor's route into pharmacy practice, which is why some long-standing pharmacists hold a bachelor's degree in pharmacy instead and are no less licensed. Licensure needs the degree plus a national examination and an examination in the law of the state.
Two other sets of letters appear beside it. RPh means registered pharmacist - the licence rather than the degree - and BCPS or another board certification marks an advanced clinical specialty. And a pharmacist is a person: a pharmacy is an organisation with an identifier of its own.
Pharmacists on the public record
Counted from what providers file about themselves, with suppression applied before anything is counted, refreshed 2026-10-05. Names, specialties and practice locations are public; work email and phone are for signed-in customers.
| State | On record | With work email | With practice phone |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 36,646 | 35,474 97% | 36,637 |
| New York | 24,753 | 24,025 97% | 24,750 |
| Florida | 21,465 | 20,617 96% | 21,459 |
| Texas | 21,451 | 20,655 96% | 21,445 |
| Pennsylvania | 14,522 | 13,972 96% | 14,521 |
| Ohio | 12,875 | 12,423 96% | 12,871 |
| North Carolina | 10,980 | 10,564 96% | 10,977 |
| Illinois | 10,959 | 10,551 96% | 10,957 |
Closely related, and where to find them.
Closely related
- Pharmacist A doctoral profession with widening authority - and never the same thing as a pharmacy.
Find them
- Pharmacists list counts by state, the fields a record carries, a sample record.
- Pharmacists pharmacists and the pharmacies they dispense from, people and organizations kept apart.
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